Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1887-03-10
THE STATE LIBRARY.


Irregularities Conde mned-The COndi-
tion of the Library.
The Assembly Committee on State Ii
brary, which has been investigating the
recent Irregularities charged against Libra
rian Wallis, and examining into the condi-
tion of the Library and the work done
therein, last night reported to the Assem-
bly, as follows. The report, without being
read, was ordered to be printed
lfr Speaker: Your Committee on State
Library respectfully state that they have
examined into the affairs of the State
Library from April 6, 1882, to the present
time (Which is the period of the present
Librarians incumbency) and present the
following report Your committee, having
learned that there were public rumors af-
fecting the integrity of the Librarian, and
intimating that his administration of the
affairs of his office was dishonest, have ex-
amined as minutely as possible into the
management of this department of the
government. They have examined the
books, records and papers in his office
have required the Librarian, the Trustees,
the clerks, and such other persons as your
committee believed possessed any knowl-
edge of the administration of the affairs of
this bureau, to appear before them, and
have examined them touching the entire
administration of the affairs Of the Library.
Your committee, after making such inves-
tigation, would state that they find all
moneys drawn by the Librarian accounted
for by receipted vouchers low on file in his
office and shown in his cash book. We
find there has been no delalcation of any
of the public moneys, and the properties
Of + ,bror rai oot11f4f1r,
But while the committee thus exonerates
the Librarian from any accusation of hay
ing appropriated to his own use any of the
public moneys, they feel it their duty to
state that they find his method of admins
tering the financial duties of his Office to
have been very lax and unbusinesslike
They find that ON November q. 1885, he
drew the sum of 81 1873 25, to pay a bill for
books purchased in st. Louis that he did
not at once pay said bill, but DELAYED the
same until January 4, 1886, when be paid
500; March 10th, when he paid $500 May
22d, when he paid 5000, and September
9th, when he paid the balance remaining
due of $l73 25. The Librarian states that
this money was kept in the safe in his Of
fee, and denies that any part of such
moneys were used by him. 1t was impos-
sible for the committee to discover whether
public money may not have been used for
his own private purposes by the Librarian,
yet by pursuing such course, he had it in
his power to so use it. without authority of
law permitting him to so use it, or
even to keep it in his possess
sion. We severely reprehend the &C.
ton Of the Librarian in this matter,
and cannot too severely condemn this
reckless and unlawful control of the pub
lie funds. We further find that the pur-
chases for which said 81 ,373 25 was drawn
from the Controller were ordered, not by
the present Board of Trustees, but By their
predecessors. we therefore exculpate the
present Board from any want of diligence
or circumspection in supervising the con-
duct Of the Librarian in the above matter
but we have reason to believe that during
the administration of the present Board
the payment of several bills of amounts
varying from $25 to 5000 have been de-
layed for upwards of three months after
the money to pay them has been drawn
from the Treasury, and that such moneys
were improperly kept in the possession |
and under the sole control of the Librarian !
Otherwise we find that since the present |
Board have been in charge the supervision |
of the expenditures of the Librarian has |
been reasonably careful and that they have !
attended to the trust reposed in |
them. We further find that none of the |
deputies, or other employees of the Library. |
were, or are, chargeable with any act of /
omission TO fully perform all their duties, |
or were aware of the negligence of the |
Librarian to make the aforementioned |
payments.
We believe that Section 2292 of the Polit- |
ical Code, providing for the Board of Trus- /
tees should be so amended that the menu |